Gauging Dependency
by Lizard Pie
Summary: He'd slipped into a depression after only 3 days of being away from Eliza. The question was rising as to how healthy the relationship was for him. FaustXEliza


AN: Been a long time since I've written anything for this site. I wanted to do something of the more parental-half of the Faust family doing something parental (go figure), so this came out.

On the topic of Eliza -everyone who has read anything of mine knows I love the pairing to death. However -when you think about it... how healthy _is_ this relationship? Even love shouldn't be this desprate. As cute as it is -it's very twisted and a bit scary to have someone so... Faust. I dunno, maybe I'm thinking about it too much.

* * *

Her son was laying still on his bed –staring at the wall– for what must have been all day. Which, in and of itself, wasn't necessarily a bad thing. He was sick and, therefore, needed to rest.

It was the fact that he was so blatantly depressed which was getting to her.

Henrietta leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed as she looked him over.

It wasn't the illness which was getting to him, of course, though she wished it was. That would have been much easier to deal with because all she would have to do was distract him from his current state with a puzzle or a book or something.

No, his problem was that by this point he'd been apart from Eliza for more than three days.

Her husband had said the fact Johann crashed so much when they were separated was proof that the relationship wasn't healthy for him. He shouldn't be so desperate for her company.

She still couldn't really decide if she agreed with him.

True –it was more than just a bit upsetting to see that he simply couldn't handle being away from her. It was almost as if she were a drug…

But…

It was important for children to have friends –any friends, she supposed, so they have someone to talk to if nothing else.

And, sadly, Johann had already proven himself incapable of sustaining any other than her. So, it wasn't as if he could really rebound if they had him cut off this relationship –as if he'd let them.

Maybe if they had him meet some other people first, or something. There had to be children out there he could connect with on a healthier level. After all, he was a very sweet child –she couldn't really imagine that there could be no one his age that could see…

"Mutter?"

Henrietta jumped slightly as he pulled her from her thoughts. She put a smile on quickly to cover it up.

"Yes?" she asked softly.

He stared more firmly at the wall, "…Can I see her yet?"

Henrietta sighed lightly, walking over and sitting on his bed. Moving his hair out of the way, she felt his forehead. After a moment, she sighed and shook her head, "Your temperature's still too high, baby. We can't risk making her worse."

"Oh… okay," Johann said, letting his head sink deeper into the pillow as he sighed.

She tightened a corner of her mouth. "I'm sorry, baby… you know how bad her immune system is…"

"I know," he whispered –trying very hard to keep his voice calm as his eyes began to well.

She sighed and began to stroke his hair.

The question had been growing for quite a while in her mind –what exactly was Eliza to him.

She couldn't be just a friend. Friends don't get this kind of reaction –this kind of dependency. This… was love?

It couldn't be…. No, of course not… he'd only known her for a short while…

Henrietta knew he liked to throw himself into things, but… this?

Maybe it was their fault. Allowing him to isolate so long –allowing this… whatever this was… to build. And now that it was exploding, they were finally recognizing that something was wrong and needed to be addressed.

They should have worked harder… a child shouldn't reach seven and only have had two or three friends to his name.

No, wait; her husband was as inept as her son with these things, so he was useless. She knew that very well and rarely if ever turned to him for things like this.

That meant that this whole thing was _her_ fault.

Henrietta sighed as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm so sorry for this, baby…"

"What if she dies while I'm sick?" he whispered, eyes still firmly on the wall, "What if I never see her again?"

She smiled softly and shook her head, "She's doing very well right now, considering. She's not going to die before you're well."

"But…"

"Eliza's fine right now, trust me," she told him.

"How can you be so sure?" he asked, moving to look at her out of the corner of his eye.

Henrietta smiled lightly, "I saw her mother at the store yesterday, and she told me so. Eliza's as happy and healthy as she ever was."

Johann shifted to look at her fully, "Really?"

"Yeah, really."

He looked down, almost embarrassed as he muttered, "So, she doesn't miss me or anything…"

Henrietta sighed softly, running her fingers through his hair, "She misses you very much, liebling."

He blinked for the fact that she'd actually heard him before he looked at her, eyes glinting with the slightest bit of hope. "Does she really?"

"You're all she talks about, apparently," she said, smiling lightly.

Slowly, a corner of his mouth moved up.

She pushed his shoulder softly. "Don't act so surprised that people want to be around you –you're a very good person."

He blushed and looked away, "You have to say that..."

Henrietta looked at him more closely, "Why?"

"Cause you're my mutter…" he said, smiling just slightly.

She laughed lightly, "So? I can still think you're sweet." Henrietta kissed him on the cheek as she took him in her arms.

Johann blushed and tried to squirm away, "Mutti, please…."

"Oh yeah, that's right… You're too old for me any more…" She held him closer, "I don't care, you're still my baby."

"Am not," he told her indignantly.

"Yes you are. And you're always going to be," Henrietta whispered to him.

"I'm almost grown up," he told her, putting his chin up proudly, "I'm seven already."

Henrietta whistled softly, "Wow… that's getting pretty high. Soon, you're not gonna need Papa or me, are you?"

Johann hesitated, but ultimately nodded, "… I guess..." He looked away for a minute, "… But when Eliza and I have a house… you guys can be with us…."

She smiled lightly, "Really?"

He nodded with a small smile, "Yeah…. But you guys are gonna have to go to bed at nine and eat liver…"

Henrietta shrugged, "That'll just mean you love us, though. So I'm fine with that."

Johann stared at her, "You'll eat liver?" When she nodded, he stuck his tongue out, "But no one likes it!"

She smiled nervously, "Your papa does…"

He leaned in as if to tell her a secret, "… I think he's just pretending so I'll eat it. I don't think anyone's really supposed to eat that at all."

Henrietta smiled just slightly, "Maybe you're right. I dunno; your papa is tricky." She kissed him on the forehead, "There's some soup on the stove... are you hungry?"

He paused, "What kind…?"

She shrugged, "Liver."

Johann paused for a moment before laughing, "What is it really?"

She grinned as she stood, "The chicken and rice one you like. Come on."

He smiled brightly and head off to the kitchen.

Henrietta hung back for a moment before smiling to herself. So, her baby was still around…

He hadn't turned into something to solely fawn after some girl he just met.

She glanced over when he looked back in the room questioningly. She put a smile on quickly and followed him out of the room.


End file.
